Like Banging a Head at a Wall: New Jersey Devils Fall to Edmonton Oilers 2-0

I did quickly update this to add a direct link to Copper & Blue’s recap.

Also: Dean McAmmond left the game early due to a stinger being aggravated, as reported by Gulitti. So there’s one Devil forward who didn’t have an awful night – the guy who didn’t even play in all three periods.

I was thinking that the entire time. But I will defer from the D criticism (because there will be enough of it) and regurgitate an important point Sherry Ross was overemphasizing: Outside of the ZZPop line, the Devils are not threatening. Before Jacques split them up . . . in the 1st period of this game and in the 3rd of last game, Ross pointed out this obvious lackluster performance of the rest of the offense. But obviously she had done everything except directly calling out Elias, Zubs and the entire 3rd line. I know Kovalchuk played well enough, and had the best chance, and yes he got 5 shots on goal, but he also seems to make bad decisions on others. I would be interested to know how many of the blocked shots (or passes) were his?

The other lines need to wake up, well, at least they’ll have some days to practice a home. 2 will be considered a lot at this juncture of the year.

Marty played very well. He kept us in this game despite the outcome. I am also starting to see more of a mis-communication between Marty when he handles the puck specifically behind the net and the defenders. He usually end up playing it off the boards (which doesn’t work), or does pass it to a defender, which is then battled and lost. I am seeing it more and more. The passing was horrendous tonight. Maybe the team is trying too hard to get out of this slump. They didn’t look slow or lazy. They were just off, making that one mistake that would cost them, or not capitalizing on chances. They played well against San Jose (THE BEST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE). Maybe they have a tendency to play to the level of their opponent? I don’t know the answer. I hope the next 2 days, the team goes over some film, and gets back to some basics (being physical to win battles along the boards; back checking in the neutral zone; and shooting/passing accuracy from everyone).

Heads up everyone…this team just needs to find what it’s good at again.

The playoffs. Yes I understand that everyone thinks because we are doing so bad we are going to fail in the playoffs but teams go into the playoffs all the time on top of their game and bail out in the first round. The playoffs are like a brand new season and I think we have probably one of the top 3 teams in the league and really believe if we can put some intensity together we will go far and hopefully bring the cup home.

This is getting ridiculous. How much more time do you have Lemiare?

Jacques is going no where. BANK on it.

Fact is our defense isn’t that good. The reason we didn’t go very far last year in the play offs? DEFENSE. Lets Hope Martin adds a spark.

And lets lay off Marty. You could have Marty and Roy in goal standing next to each other, but if its a shooting gallery someones going to get it past.

Time to get a little younger on the 3rd and 4th line offense also. We have a lot of young talent in lowell.

I can’t imagine what the anger will be if they come out flat against the Rangers. I am extremely angry and embarrassed as well. However, we all know this will subside a bit if the Devils can beat the Rangers.

I’ve been all over the D, but I’m more concerned about the O. I mean we’ve been shutout enough this year to question this.

My 2 suspects: Elias and Rolston

Do we think Elias was a little more affected by the concussion than we think? Could you move Rolston up with Kovy to see if he responds. It seems both of them just need a goal to get going mentally.

Lots of anger and knee-jerk reactions after last night’s loss. I agree with some of them and understand where you guys are coming from. Patrick Elias and Brian Rolston have disappeared from this offense. Its especially noticable considering the fact that both of them were playing quite well after Elias got back from injuries. Niedermeyer has not played well but I wouldn’t hold that much against him considering he doesn’t play that many minutes to begin with, and everyone understands his role. I agree that Langenbrunner hasn’t played that well for about two months now, not including the Olympics. He was a very big scoring threat last year. Not so much this year.

If we can base Lou’s tolerance for head coaches at a minimum based on previous years, we can expect Lemaire to be on the chopping block. Something needs to change dramatically by the end of this month. This team is way too talented to be shutout by the Oilers. Fortunately for us, we play 8 games at home this month and four games away. That should give the team an opportunity to build some confidence back at the Rock.

Everyone was crying for Jacque’s head when we started out 0-2 and then quickly forgot that when we turned it around.

I’m hoping this is all just a post-Olympic migraine. The game Wednesday night I would say is more of a bellwether game than the Edmonton game. If the O is just as bad Wednesday as they were last night, then I would say that it’s time for Lou to do something drastic. With a front six of Elias, Parise, Langs, Zajac, Zubrus, and Kovy, we should be closer to averaging 4 per game instead of getting blanked over and again.

Again I’m quoting Sherry Ross, and I apologize in advance for relying on one source, but she said something (again) that was very interesting last night.

She said that it seems other teams have studied the Devils’ (Jacques) system and know how to beat them, specifically their D. I’m paraphrasing, but she mentioned that “other teams have seemed to figure out the formula to beat the Devils, don’t dump and chase but just gain the blueline and send bodies toward the net and you will expose their defensive weaknesses.”

To me this was very concerning and would seem to provide a logical explanation on paper as the the drop off from December as a team. Of course, Pee Wee hockey players are told to drive to the net all of the time, but if the Devils’ defense concedes the blueline, then a dump-and-chase team can adjust if the D are making the same mistakes. Opposing teams just need to gain the blueline and send 2 bodies down low, knowing they’ll over match the Devils there (partially it’s why I see the Skoula move – to try and get a bigger body down there).

Of course, that being said, you know there’s no silver bullet for nailing the Devils’ recent struggles. Mental toughness and intangibles figure greatly into slumps and winning streaks. But if Ross has a point it does leave me with a lot of worry. If other teams are simply watching the tape on the Devils and seeing the same kind of mistakes that this forum keeps brining up, then it is indeed more of a coaching thing than I perceived before.

Please tell me I’m wrong . . .

I know many people will disagree with me but it’s just my opinion (so save your comments). Besides what we say in this forum has absolutely no effect whatsoever on the decisions made by Jacques or Lou. So I might as well say it. It looked to me like Devils intentionally lost those two games in Canada, and they definitely did not score as high as they can.
LET’S GO DEVILS!!

gate receipts must be around $45 million, players expenses $55 million. plus administration costs, new arena expenses like much higher depreciation, taxes, etc. One would wonder.

I’m going to address a bunch of these later. A quick thought about the system being the problem, though. Were it as simple as opponents figuring out how the Devils have played, wouldn’t we have seen a lot more losses in late October and November?

It’s not like Lemaire came up with something so revolutionary or innovative that it would take months for opposition coaches and players to figure out. In fact, if you’re perceptive enough, then you probably can figure it out within a period and make adjustments accordingly. Generally, the tactics employed in a game depends on what the players can do and who they are facing. This belies an issue with in-game adjustments not being made correctly, though who knows whether it’s the coach not making the right decisions or the players not playing well enough to follow directions anyway.

Clearly, something needs to change, but I’m not sold on the idea of changing the head coach or changing the whole system for that reason.

I am sorry to hear that most Devil fans have quit on this team. The defense is bad,the coach needs to be fired. Marty is over the hill. These are just a few of the complaints about the team that are going around. Now I believe that the Devils who have not been playing on home ice for a long time need some home cooking. Also I believe that now that Martin is coming back that will help the powerplay. I also believe that our coach will start letting the lines gell and keep them together more once everyone is back. I also believe the Devils will get more motivated the closer the playoffs come around. I also believe that once the Devils start to win again beginning Wednesday against the Rangers that people will start talking positively again. I also believe the Devils will play well against the Penguins and shut down Crosby and Malkin. I also believe that I love the Devils and as a true Devils fan I never give up on the team. Because over the years the Devils have always shown me that when they play at their best they can beat anybody..Go Devils

I just had to throw in my comment regarding the person who thought the Devils intentionally lost those two games. Have you noticed that the Devils have played sub-par hockey for the last two months now? Do you think they intentionally lost those games too? Your theory has to be one of the worst I have read on this board in quite some time. There is absolutely no reason to believe that a team, once sitting on top of the eastern conference and the league, would willingly lose to the worst team in the league. And not only lose, but get shutout in an embarassing fashion. This team has played pitiful for many weeks now. Do you think they tanked all of those games too?